A New Darkness
by blackpenman
Summary: The world is enjoying a period of relative tranquility, with all threats to world peace already having been taken care of. But what is to be done when a new threat, a threat that somehow has access to the most secure of places, apparently including the very minds of Team Avatar, reveals itself to the world? Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter One

_AN: This is my very first fan fiction ever, so I will gladly take any constructive criticism anyone has to offer. Please rate and review!_

"Korra, you okay?" Bolin asked worriedly. Korra had been gazing out the window of Asami's car, a troubled expression on her face. This wasn't the first time Bolin had caught Korra like this, and it was starting to worry him. Normally this alone wouldn't have bothered him, but the fact that she looked like she hand't slept for days was what had made him really worried for Korra.

She turned to face him, giving a weak smile. "I'm fine Bolin, just a little tired. Haven't been sleeping too well lately," she admitted to him, whispering the last part. She gave a yawn, stretched her arms, and returned to looking back out the window.

It had been a while since anything had happened that upset the balance of the world. A bunch of air benders had been rounded up when they had traveled across the world in search of them. Tenzin had begun to educate them in the ways of the Air Nomads, and the culture was beginning to rebuild after almost two hundred years of near-extinction. Zaheer, Ghazan, P'li, and Ming-Hua had all been defeated over a year ago, and Korra had taken away their bending to make sure they wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Before that had been Harmonic Convergence and Unalaq and Vaatu's attempt to destroy the world using it's power. But they had been defeated and destroyed by Korra. Even further back had been Amon and the Equalists, but they had also been defeated and were now no longer a threat to the natural balance of the world. But those three encounters, those three threats of imbalance were lingering in Korra's mind. To the point where she had nightmares about them, just like she had when Amon was a threat. That was why she was unable to sleep; she was too scared of what she would see.

Finally, after a long day of hanging out with her friends, they reached the bay, where Korra got out of the car and waved goodbye to her friends. She had her glider with her, and was going to use it to fly to Air Temple Island. She needed the practice for her air bending. Although she had learned the bending, she still had a long way to go from mastering it.

Once she had bid her farewells to her friends, she flew out over the bay to the island. She looked down at the water, the sight of it calming her. _I have nothing to worry about. They are all gone, all of them, _she assured herself. Feeling much more relaxed, she flew with a new motivation to the island. She had bested her fears, and now she felt very tired.

She reached the island, landing and folding her glider. It was rather late, so she didn't expect anyone except for the White Lotus sentries to be out. She was correct in her assumption. Tenzin, his family, and the other air benders were all in their rooms, sleeping. Korra began to walk to her room, eager to collapse into her bed and sleep. But she noticed something. No one was out. Not even the sentries. Korra didn't see any lights on. It was pitch black on the island. She had been too tired to notice it before, but she saw it now.

On her guard, she lifted her glider, ready to attack anyone she deemed a threat. She looked around, analyzing her surroundings. She didn't see any movement, so she slowly began to walk to Tenzin's room.

"Hello, Avatar," Korra heard a male voice say, right behind her. She swung around, bringing her staff onto the body behind her, but only hit empty space. Confused, Korra lit up the darkness with a small flame in her hand. She looked with the new light and saw no one.

"I know you're there! Reveal yourself!" Korra demanded. Receiving no response, she gave a sigh of relief. She had been imagining this, that's all. _The sentries are probably just asleep,_ she reasoned. Relaxing, she began to change her course to he room, keeping her flame on, though. It was still rather dark, and she didn't want to trip on anything.

"Goodnight, Avatar!" she heard from the shadows, just out of reach from her light. Once more frightened, Korra increased the intensity of her flame, but again saw nothing. Whoever was speaking to her, he was hiding in the dark like a coward and wouldn't come out and face her like a man.

"Come out and fight me, you coward!" Korra shouted, trying to keep fear out of her voice. She knew things had been too quiet lately. There was a new threat, and she had to face it.

Waiting for some reaction, Korra calmed her breathing, which had quickened in pace. She felt her heart rate slow as well, and soon she was fine, having calmed down. Receiving no response at all, she turned around, facing the general location of her room. She took a deep breath and began walking.

"I'll fight you, then we'll see who's the real coward!" Korra heard scream. Before she could turn around she felt herself knocked down. She whipped her arms around, sending a flame around her. The momentary light revealed nothing, but she felt an arm grab her and lift her up. Her hands were kept behind her back, and she heard a voice speak in front of her, but saw nothing.

"Your fear, I can smell it. I can _taste_ it. It smells so…good," the man said, and Korra caught her first glimpse of her assailant. She saw, in the darkness, his teeth. The teeth looked like they came from a saber tooth moose lion. Sharp, long, ready to tear her head off. Her breath had quickened, fear having gripped her heart.

"Now, I shall end this!" he shouted, before lunging for her throat, jaws open wide.

Korra woke with a start, gasping for breath. She was soaked in sweat, as were her sheets and blanket. She looked around her room, making sure she was alone; all except for Naga, of course, who was fast asleep beside her. Assured of her safety, she collapsed back into her bed, exhausted.

_This is the fifth night in a row that I have had this nightmare! I have to ask Tenzin about it. Maybe he can help me with it, and I can finally get some sleep!_ Korra thought to herself. Sighing, she sat back up, getting ready to meditate. When she couldn't sleep and was too afraid to go back to bed, this is what she did. She tried to connect with Rava and ask her what the dream meant.  
Korra couldn't possibly have known, but as she began to meditate, on the other side of Republic City, a young man was also still wide awake for the fifth night in a row. And he, too was meditating, trying to connect with a spirit. A very special spirit, indeed.

_Thanks for reading! This is, as I said, my very first ever fan fiction, so please give me reviews! Hopefully it is mostly positive, but if there is anything wrong with this, please don't be afraid to write me some constructive criticism! I'll only get better if I am given advice to improve myself!_


	2. Chapter Two

_AN: Hey guys! Sorry the last chapter was so short! Who knew 1,200 words was so little? Anyways, I will from now on try and make my chapters have over 3,000 words so that they are of a moderate length. Short chapters are just annoying, am I right?_

Book One: Nightmares

Chapter Two: The Stranger

"Tenzin, I need to talk to you about something," Korra asked to her mentor. Breakfast had just finished and the two of them were off for some air bending practice. Now that there were other air benders, Tenzin had taken a few of them back with him to Republic City so they could practice with Korra. These were the air benders who had caught on to the unique style of air bending the fastest, and would be able to challenge Korra.

"Can't it wait, Korra? We must get to training. You and these new recruits are far from mastering air bending," Tenzin responded. Giving a puff of exasperation, Korra continued to speak.

"Tenzin, I am pretty sure that this is more important. Raava agrees with me on this, we have to talk about it now," Korra urged. Upon hearing the light spirit's name, Tenzin stopped mid stride. He turned to face Korra, folding his arms.

"Okay. For the past five nights, I have had this recurring nightmare. You've probably noticed I have been tired lately, barely keeping my eyes open for some of the less exciting parts of my training? I haven't been able to sleep because of these nightmares. It all starts out the same; I am hanging out with Bolin, Mako, and Asami. They drop me off by the bay, I glide over the water to here, and I am walking to my room. None of the sentries are out, and it's pitch black. I use fire bending for some light, when I hear someone speak to me. Each time it is a different voice. After me trying to find them and they just stay in the shadows, they finally attack me, and I get a quick look of them each time. But I never see the same thing.

"The first night I saw the face of the attacker, but I didn't recognize them. It was some random guy I had never met before. The second night I saw a chi blocker's mask covering their face. The third night, Mako's scarf. The fourth night, Air Nomad robes. And last night, I just saw the jaws of some animal. Nothing else. No body or face."

Tenzin, intrigued by Korra's dreams, didn't respond at all, thinking for a moment. He gave a deep breath before speaking. "And you spoke to Raava about these dreams?" Korra nodded. "What did she say about them?"

"She said that they were probably from the spirit world, that the Dream Spirit was giving them to me. She said that they were probably a warning. Something is coming, and that these nightmares were giving me a heads up, letting me know about this new enemy."

Tenzin thought again for a moment. After a short while of silence, he asked Korra a question. "What do you plan on doing now? Warn President Raiko or Chief Beifong?" Korra nodded yet again. Tenzin sighed, before turning around and continuing to walk to where the other air benders were. "You are the Avatar, Korra, not me. If that is what you wish to do, I support your decision. Go now before you forget later." He told her, back still facing her. Korra smiled before grabbing her glider and flying across the bay.

"Hey Korra! What's up!" Bolin called after Korra, seeing her landing on the bay shore. He was in a car, Asami and Mako sitting together in the front seats. Korra smiled at seeing her friends and walked up to them.

"Oh just, doing some Avatar stuff. Nothing much. What about you guys?" Korra asked in return.

"Nothing really. Wanna hang out for a bit?" Mako offered. Korra nodded excitedly. It had been a long while since she had been with her friends. For the last couple weeks Tenzin had made her work nonstop on air bending now that she could practice with people her age. She had improved for sure, but the endless training had worn away at her, and some time with Bolin, Mako, and Asami would be relaxing.

"Hop in!" Bolin said, opening the side door for her. Korra practically did as Bolin said, jumping into the car seat. _I can always talk to Raiko later. It isn't that urgent, _Korra thought.

The car drove off, and Korra spent the rest of the day with her friends. By the time they dropped her off at the shore, it was already dark. She open dup her glider and began to fly over the water. She looked out at Air Temple island, and noticed something strange. None of the lights were on.

_That's weird. The sentries should be out._ she thought to herself. Upon landing on the island, she looked around some more, using fire bending for light, and saw none of the sentries were present.

_This can't be good. It's too much like my dream. Am I dreaming?_ Korra thought to herself, becoming agitated and fearful. She began to walk to her room, like in her dream. Expecting this to follow the plot of her nightmares,s he waited for someone to speak. Instead, something else happened.

Korra tripped over something, a log or possibly a body. Her flame was extinguished momentarily, and darkness engulfed her vision. She heard moans of pain close by her. Heart racing, Korra lit a flame, not wanting to be in the dark.

She saw a body in front of her, on the floor. She went up close to it, on her hands and knees. She brought the flame closer to the person's face, and saw it was a young man. He was covered in blood, however, and appeared to be unconscious.

Realizing his injury, Korra extinguished her flame and used the water in her pouch to begin to heal him. Her hands, covered in water, began to glow as she used her powers to help this man. Slowly, his eyelids began to flutter, and after a while he regained consciousness. He tried to speak, but Korra shushed him.

"Don't speak. You are pretty beat up, you need to rest. Don't worry, I'll bring you inside. Kya can heal you, she is a much better healer than me." She tried to focus on stopping the bleeding somewhat, so that she could bring him to Kya while he was still alive. Slowly his wounds began to close, and the flow of blood stopped. But he had lost a lot of blood, and he was barely staying conscious. Any second he could slip back into darkness, which would be especially bad if he had a concussion.

"Feel good enough to walk?" Korra asked the young man. He nodded slightly, and she hefted him up onto his legs, letting him drape his arm across her shoulders. Most of his weight was on her, but he still had trouble walking. Korra practically dragged him inside. She went to the nearest bedroom she could find and laid him down onto the bed. She lit a few candles to give some light, and turned to leave. Before she could exit the room, the young man grabbed her arm.

"You…you're the… Avatar, right?" he asked, before coughing violently. Korra nodded when he had finished his bout, and he let go of her arm. She left the room, in search of the water bender.

The moment Korra told Kya about the young man, they both rushed back to the room he was in. Kya immediately began to heal him, searching for where the injuries were the worst. She eventually focused on his head and lower back.

"He's lucky to be alive. It looks like whoever did this to him wanted him dead. He has some major concussions and lots of blows to the spine, which luckily didn't damage his nerves. As well as that, he had been knifed in the side by the looks of it, as well as punched in the face repeatedly. He only survived because you stopped the bleeding so quickly, Korra," Kya told the Avatar.

Kya had deemed it safe for the young man to sleep, but only because she was healing his concussions. His rest would speed along the healing process, and no permanent damage would be done to his brain.

Now that there was a strong source of light, Korra could finally clearly see the man she had saved. And he was rather attractive. If she wasn't so worried for his life, Korra would have definitely considered dating him. But, knowing that he could still potentially die, all thoughts other than hope for his life were driven out of her mind.

Korra stood in the room, watching the healing session for hours. His face looked calm in his sleep. He didn't appear to be in pain. Apparently Kya was also dulling the pain felt, so he could sleep well. Many hours passed before Kya stopped healing him, and the sun was rising above the horizon slowly.

"He's fine, Korra. I took care of his lethal injuries. He just has to rest now, and I can resume healing him later. You should get some sleep Korra." The Avatar nodded absentmindedly as Kya left the room. Korra, however, remained where she was, and kneeled next to the young man, making sure he was fine.

His breathing was calm and regular, as if he was in a deep sleep. His heart rate had returned to a normal pulse, and, despite Kya having stopped healing him, he still appeared to not be in any pain at all. Korra pulled up a chair for her to sit on, stayed as she was, by the man's side.

It was like this that Tenzin found her. Once he had awoken, Kya had informed him of what had happened the previous night. He rushed to the room as soon as possible, wanting to examine the young man himself.

"Korra, I need to see him, please back away," Tenzin requested of her. Korra stood and moved to the wall, leaning against it. Tenzin sat down and looked at the man's face. He then gently nudged the man awake.

As he slowly regained consciousness, his sat up on the bed, leaning against the wall while rubbing his eyes. He yawned and stretched his arms, before looking around and seeing Tenzin and Korra. Remembering where he was and what had happened, he straightened his back and put his hands on his lap, trying to appear somewhat respectable in front of the Avatar and her trainer.

"We must ask you a few questions. First, what is your name?" Tenzin asked him.

"My name is Makoto," he answered plainly. The air bender nodded, pausing for a moment while he contemplated his next question.

"Where are you from?" Tenzin asked. A look of confusion spread across Makoto's face at the question.

"You mean, like, my ancestry, or my nationality?" Makoto asked.

"I mean, where do you live? Where do you consider home?" Tenzin clarified.

"Well, in that case, I am from Ba Sing Se," he answered proudly. Tenzin nodded, thinking, before continuing with his questions.

"Why are you in Republic City?" Tenzin asked. "Or, more importantly, why were you on this island last night?"

Makoto paused before speaking; almost as if he was thinking of what to say. "I came to Republic City to see if my family could move here. Back in Ba Sing Se, things aren't going to well, and we were hoping Republic City would be a good place for us to move to," Makoto responded. "And as for why I was here last night, I have no idea. I was walking the streets yesterday, when I was suddenly grabbed and a bunch of punches were thrown at me. Then I blacked out, and next thing i know, Avatar Korra here was healing me," he explained, gesturing to Korra, who was still leaning agains the wall.

Tenzin thought some more, before speaking. "Are you a bender?" he asked Makoto.

He nodded. "Yes, I am."

"Are you an earth bender?"

"No, I am a water bender."

Tenzin was a little surprised to hear this. But then again, Republic City wasn't the only place in the world diversifying itself; surely the Earth Kingdom was as well? Tenzin stood, spreading the wrinkles in his robe. "That is all Makoto, thank you for your time." Tenzin turned to leave the room, and was out, leaving Korra alone with the man.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him. He had, apparently, made a remarkable recovery, shown by his lack of exhaustion and willingness to speak. The only sign of him being injured at all were the bandages wrapped around his chest and stomach.

"I am feeling perfectly fine, thanks to you, Avatar. you saved my life last night. I am forever in your debt." He gave her the Fire Nation salute, and bent forward, bowing to her. He gave a groan of pain, however, and sat back up quickly.

"Are you okay Makoto?" Korra asked, worried for him. He shook his head, and slowly slid onto his back, lying down again. He gave a sigh of relief as the pain subsided due to his more comfortable position, and saw that Korra was by his side again.

"I'm fine, you can go and leave me alone. I don't need to be tended to. You have more important things to do, Avatar, than care for an insignificant person like me," he said to her, shooing Korra away. She reluctantly nodded and walked out the door, lingering under the door frame.

"You can stay as along as you like, Makoto. You need to let your body heal yourself; you took a massive beating yesterday," she said, grinning at him. He grinned back and Korra finally left to find Tenzin and begin today's training.

_Whew! That took a while! Any who, hope you guys are liking the story so far! Don't worry, the action will soon start, but I need to build up to it. If you have any suggestions for where the story is going, or just to critique my writing, please just say so in the reviews!_


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